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HIV positive women “agents of change”

The United Nations agency charged with gender equality and
women’s empowerment has presented concrete areas of focus and goals for the
three-day (8-10 June), high-level meeting on AIDS at UN Headquarters.

The
agency, UN Women, said in a press statement
that they would put forward several key recommendations, including: empower HIV
positive women as “agents of change”; facilitate better access for women to
prevention, treatment and care services; ensure adequate financing for women’s
needs and priorities; and address violence against women.

“If
we are to truly change the course of the epidemic and bring an end to this
pandemic, we must take this opportunity to back our commitments with actions
and resources, and include the voices of HIV-positive women in the design of
effective solutions,” said Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and
Executive Director of UN Women. “They know what to do – and we know what to do.
We just need to do it. ”

UN
Women said the overall number of newly infected people is shrinking and can
continue to decrease, especially as new tools of prevention become accessible.

“However,
according to a new UN report, of the young people who make up an estimated 41
percent of new infections, the majority of them – more than 60 per cent – are
young women, with numbers rising to an alarming high of 72 per cent in
sub-Saharan Africa – a clear demonstration of the long-recognized linkages
between gender inequalities and the risk of infection,” UN Women said.

UN Women, the
youngest UN agency, which became operational on 1 January 2011, is charged with
advancing gender equality. It merges four previously distinct parts of the UN
system which focused on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

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